This is often what discourages many of us when we start crochet: the famous magic ring! Even though there are already plenty of video tutorials on Youtube, I have deconstructed the movement into a few simple steps which I will describe in this article.
What is a magic ring?
In crochet, a magic ring allows you to start a work in spiral or in round. Unlike a circle made of chain stitches, a magic ring allows the circle to be tightened as desired. The tighter the magic circle is, the smaller the hole in the middle of the starting circle will be.
We use the magic ring technique a lot to crochet amigurumis in order to hide as much as possible this little hole at the beginning.
Step by step guide
There are plenty of videos on Youtube that explain the magic ring and these videos are a great help to get an idea of the gesture. But I find that it is sometimes difficult to follow the video and to fully understand the gesture and especially the path that the yarn must take to make a nice ring.
I am right-handed and all the following explanations apply to right-handed people. If you are left-handed, the gestures are the same but in reverse since you hold the yarn with the right hand (well I guess ;).
Step 1: Wrap the yarn around the thumb
To start, you have to wrap the yarn around a finger, always keep the yarn from the ball on the left. To secure the yarn, I block the yarn of the ball between the fingers of my left hand then I wrap the yarn on my thumb: once from back to front. This way I get a loop on my finger. To secure the tension of my yarn I block the yarn end between the fingers of my left hand as well.
Step 2: Make the first loop with the hook
Then I pass my hook under the two strands that are around my finger and I take the yarn closest to my palm (or the leftmost) with my hook to pull it under the other strand and form a loop.
Step 3: Make a chain stitch
Crochet a chain stitch.
💡 Tips 💡 The tighter the chain stitch is, the less you will see it when the circle is tightened. But don't worry about that until you've mastered all the steps of the magic ring. 😉
Step 4: Remove the finger from the magic ring
Remove carefully your finger from the magic ring.
If everything has gone well so far, we get a magic ring from this step. The end of the yarn already allows you to tighten the circle. I always check if everything is fine at this stage by slightly sliding the end of the yarn.
Step 5: Crochet the first stitch
Now I begin the first round of my pattern. Here for this article, I will make a magic ring of 6 single crochet stitches, so I make a first single crochet. I pass my hook from front to back inside the circle.
Step 6: Finish the first round
I finish crocheting the number of stitches according to the instructions of my pattern. As I make a magic circle of 6 single crochet stitches, I crochet another 5 stitches to complete my round.
💡 Tips 💡I crochet two or three stitches then I check that my magic ring slides correctly. To check it, I pull gently on the end of the yarn and watch if my circle becomes smaller.
Step 7: Close the magic ring
Once the first round is finished, just pull on the yarn end to tighten and close the magic ring. Do not hesitate to pull hard to close it properly.
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